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Head to Head Challenge

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The Head to Head Challenge is a recurring challenge in Hell’s Kitchen.

Overview[]

Always occurring during the team phase, during this challenge, Ramsay asks one chef from a team to cook against a member of the other team, who chooses the dish both must cook, alternating between each team until all have a rival and dish. The team with the most individual victories wins the challenge.

The purpose of this challenge is to demonstrate each chef’s individual prowess and to learn their strengths and weaknesses.

History[]

Season 10[]

On Episode 14, the challenge first happened when 8 chefs were remaining, four on both teams. Known as the Southern Cuisine Challenge, each team had to pick a person from the other team they wanted to go up against, while that person had to pick two signs that the Southern Voices of Victory gospel choir were holding, the blue signs held Southern-based entrées, and the purple signs held Southern-based sides. Barbie beat Clemenza on the catfish and collard greens, Kimmie beat Brian on the pork chop and grits, and Justin beat Christina on the fried chicken and mac and cheese. Finally, Dana beat Robyn on the meatloaf and sweet potatoes, and the red team won the challenge 3-1. They were rewarded with a photoshoot with Ramsay and Tanya Steel for Epicurious, and lunch at the Four Seasons. Also, Dana's dish was featured on Epicurious. The blue team had to prep for Southern Night which included baking fresh bread and churning butter.[1]

Season 11[]

On Episode 13, the challenge happened when 8 chefs were remaining, four on each team. Known as the International Cuisine Challenge, one chef from each team had to pick a person from the other team they wanted to go up against, while that person had to spin a wheel to decide what country of cooking they were working with. Jon beat Mary on the Indian round, Ja'Nel beat Nedra on the Thai round, and Cyndi beat Anthony on the Greek round. Lastly, Susan beat Zach on the Japanese round, and the red team won the challenge. They won a $2,000 shopping spree at Kitson, lunch at Mr. Chow’s, and brand new cookware, while the blue team had to take in wine deliveries, cleaning the stemware, cut limes and lemons, and prep both kitchens for that night’s service.[2]

Season 12[]

On Episode 11, the challenge happened when 10 chefs were remaining, five on each team. Known as the Creative Pork Challenge, both teams went head to head on different pork cuts and was divided into two parts. In part one, both teams had to match eight pork cuts and the team that finished first got an advantage. The blue team won the first part, and they had control of who they wanted to go up against and what cut to cook with. Melanie beat out Anton on the pork shoulder round, Rochelle beat out Richard on the pork tenderloin round, Gabriel beat out Joy on the rib round, and Jason beat out Sandra on the pork belly round. Lastly, Scott scored over Kaisha on the pork cheek round, and the blue team won the challenge 3-2. They were rewarded with a skydiving experience in a vertical wind tunnel, and received their own Vitamix blender, while the red team had to prep both kitchens, and make peanut butter.[3]

Season 13[]

On Episode 7, the challenge happened when 12 chefs were remaining, six on each team. Known as the Italian Cuisine Challenge, each team had to select a scroll from an opera singer that contained an Italian dish, and a person from the other team they wanted to go up against. Jennifer beat out Steve in the tortellini round, Fernando beat out Ashley in the saltimbocca round, but neither Aaron nor Sade scored on the linguini vonogole round. La Tasha won the spaghetti alla carbonara round over Santos, but Frank's cheese manicotti won over Roe's. Finally, Bryant beat out Sterling in the Fettucine Alfredo round, and the blue team won the challenge 3-2. They were rewarded with a $3000 shopping spree at American Rag Cie and lunch at Cecconi’s, while the red team had to prep for Italian Night which included breaking down squid for a black ink tagliatelle dish and making pasta from scratch.[4]

Season 14[]

On Episode 5, the challenge happened when 14 chefs were remaining, seven on each team. Known as the International Cheese Challenge, each team had to pick a person from the other team they wanted to go up against, while that person spun a wheel to know what cheese dish they would cook. Nick won against Monique on the grilled cheese round, Meghan beat Milly on the enchilada round, and both Adam and Christine tied on the cordon bleu round. Both Josh and Michelle tied on the manicotti round, Alison won the croquettes round over Brendan, and Randy won the lasagna round over Sarah. Lastly, T beat out Bret in the calzone round, and the red team won the challenge 5-4. They were rewarded with a trip to Marina Del Ray, and a Jet Ski activity at the ocean, while the blue team was punished by taking in a giant wheel of Parmesan cheese, breaking it down, and grating it for the following service.[5]

Season 16[]

On Episode 5, the challenge happened when 14 chefs were remaining, seven on each team. Known as the Seven Seas Seafood Challenge, each team had to pick a person from the other team they wanted to go up against, while that person had to pick a scroll containing the name of a major body of water, which would reveal what fish they were cooking with. Heidi beat out Johnny on the Bluefin tuna round, Koop beat out Kimberly on the branzino round, while both Matt and Shaina tied on the grouper round. Paulie beat out Aziza on the wahoo round, Ryan won the cod round over Aaron, and both Devin and Heather tied on the arctic char round. Finally, Andrew beat out Wendy on the sea bass round, and the blue team won the challenge 5-4. They were rewarded with lunch at Petty Cash with Ramsay and got to go bowling, while the red team had to take in deliveries of vegetables and prep them for a special seafood chowder appetizer the following service along with both kitchens.[6]

Season 17[]

On Episode 6, the challenge happened when 13 chefs were remaining, seven on the blue team, and 6 on the red team. Known as the Pizza Fusion Challenge, each team member had to pick a person from the other team they wanted to go up against, while that person spun a giant pizza wheel where they would cook a pizza with different country ingredients wherever they landed on. Since the blue team had an extra person, Giovanni, who was not chosen, chose to join Benjamin and Michelle on the France round, and after the cooking, the blue team picked his dish for judging. Barbie beat out Robyn on the Indian round, Milly beat out Jennifer on the Morocco round, Manda beat out Van on the Vietnam round, Nick beat out Dana on the Greek round, and neither Elise nor Jared scored on the South Korean round. Finally, Michelle beat out Giovanni on the France round, and the red team won the challenge 3-2. They were rewarded with a tour around Hollywood in a double-decker bus, and a trip to the Hollywood Magic Castle, while the blue team had to iron the tablecloths ahead of Italian Night and prep oils and Parmesan cheese for each table.[7]

Season 18[]

On Episode 9, the challenge happened when 9 chefs were remaining, five on the red team, and 4 on the blue team. Known as the Chinese Cuisine Challenge, each team member had to pick a person from the other team they wanted to go up against, while that person picked a Chinese takeout box labeled with a dish containing fortune cookies with what ingredients they must use. Since the blue team was down one member, Kanae cooked both the chicken breast and the spot prawns. Ramsay invited Shirley Chung as a guest judge for this challenge. Mia beat out Trev on pork tenderloin, Bret beat out Heather on black cod, Scotley beat out Kanae on chicken breast, and Ariel beat out Motto on duck breast. Lastly, Kanae beat out Jose on spot prawns, giving the blue team the victory 3-2. They were rewarded with a stay at a private villa at the Nobu Hotel in Las Vegas, while the red team made fortune cookies from scratch.[8]

Season 19[]

On Episode 6, the challenge happened when there 12 chefs were remaining, six on both teams. Known as the Modern Italian Cuisine Challenge, each team member had to pick a person from the other team they wanted to go up against, while that person smashed an electric guitar over an amp to reveal what classic Italian dish they were modernizing. Joining Ramsay for the judging were Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, and each of them would rank the dishes on a 1-3 guitar rating, with 9 being the highest possible. Lauren scored a perfect nine over Josh's three on the lobster ravioli, while Marc's eight beat out Kori's three on the veal Milanese. On the tortellini round, Amber scored a perfect nine over Syann's three, while both Nikki and Adam scored six each on the chicken saltimbocca, and both Cody and Jordan tied four each on the seafood risotto round. Lastly, while Declan and Mary Lou scored three each on the chicken parmesan round, the blue team won the challenge 33-28. They got to ride in muscle cars with professional drivers and eat an Italian meal at the Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant, while the red team made handmade pasta, prepped tomatoes, and pesto.[9]

Season 22[]

On Episode 4, the challenge happened when there were 16 chefs remaining, eight on both teams. Known as the American Classics Challenge, each team member had to pick a person from the other team they wanted to go up against, while that person had to pick a cheer letter sign that Cheer LA were holding to reveal what classic American dish they would cook. Melissa and Brad tied on the cheeseburger round, while Carmen beat out Jason on the chicken wings round. Then, Ryan won over Atoye on the spaghetti and meatballs round. Devon and Sandra tied on the Philly cheesesteak round, with Leigh and Dahmere also tied on the mac and cheese round. Johnathan and Sammi tied on the fried chicken round, and Mattias scored over Raneisha on the pizza round. Lastly, while Donya and Jermaine tied on the lobster roll round, the blue team won the challenge 7-6. They were rewarded with a trip to Santa Barbara to go parasailing and had dinner at Hotel Milo, while the red team made bread from scratch for the following night's service. Melissa used her Punishment Pass and swapped positions with Jason.[10]

Season 23[]

Trivia[]

  • Since the first time this challenge occurred, Seasons 15 and 20 are the only seasons that did not feature it.
  • Seasons 17 and 18 are the only seasons to date where this challenge happened with uneven numbers.[7][8]
  • Dana, Barbie, and Michelle are the only chefs to compete in this challenge and win it in both seasons (both Dana and Barbie won in Season 10,[1] Michelle won in Season 14,[5] and the three won in Season 17.[7])
  • So far, the blue team has won this challenge the most with six seasons.[3][4][6][8][9][10]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 (July 23, 2012). "Episode 1014 - 8 Chefs Compete". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 10. Episode 14.
  2. ↑ (May 23, 2013). "Episode 1113 - 8 Chefs Compete". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 11. Episode 13.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 (May 22, 2014). "Episode 1211 - 10 Chefs Compete". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 12. Episode 11.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 (October 15, 2014). "Episode 1307 - 12 Chefs Compete". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 13. Episode 7.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 (March 30, 2015). "Episode 1405 - 14 Chefs Compete". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 14. Episode 5.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 (October 21, 2016). "Episode 1605 - Walking the Plank". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 16. Episode 5.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 (November 10, 2017). "Episode 1706 - A Little Slice of Hell". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 17. Episode 6.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 (December 14, 2018). "Episode 1809 - What Happens in Vegas". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 18. Episode 9.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 (November 12, 2020). "Episode 1906 - Metal & Marina". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 19. Episode 6.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 (October 19, 2022). "Episode 2204 - Gimme an H!". Hell's Kitchen (U.S. TV series). Season 22. Episode 4.
Recurring Challenges
Team Challenges
Attention to Detail Challenge • Blind Taste Test • Burger Challenge • Consistency Challenge • Exotic Meat Challenge • Farm Animal Challenge • Head to Head Challenge • Ingredient Spelling Challenge • Jacket Challenge • Last Chef Standing Challenge • Meal Course Challenge • Multi-Way Cooking Challenge • Pasta Making Challenge • Pizza Challenge • Potato Challenge • Protein Cut Challenge • Protein Identification Challenge • Ranking Challenge • Relay Challenge • Service Challenge • Special Events Planning Challenge
Individual Challenges
Black Jackets Challenge • Cook For Your Life Challenge • Final Signature Dish Challenge • Final Tasting Challenge • Menu Addition Challenge • Portions Challenge • Tableside Challenge
Individual/Team Challenges
Alcohol Challenge • American Classics Challenge • Budget Challenge • Cooking Method Challenge • Cooking School Challenge • Craps Challenge • Creative Dessert Challenge • Creative Steak Challenge • Dome Challenge • Flambé Challenge • Foreign Cuisine Challenge • Fusion Cuisine Challenge • Holiday Dish Challenge • Ingredient Number Challenge • King of The Hill Challenge • Leftovers Challenge • One Time Challenges • Presentation Challenge • Seafood Challenge • Signature Dish Challenge • Taste It Now Make It Challenge
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